News from MSU Media Relations--Nov. 16

Women's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Two different scoring draughts proved too much for Mississippi State to overcome as the Lady Bulldogs dropped a 62-42 to homestanding Tulane in a women's basketball game played Tuesday night at Fogelman Arena.

MSU went more than five minutes in the opening half without a point and had an even longer stretch - better than six minutes - without a score in the final half. The limited offense prevented the Lady Bulldogs from building on a nine-point first-half lead.

The Lady Bulldogs actually opened a 13-4 advantage seven minutes into the contest. A 3-pointer by Diamber Johnson ran the Maroon and White advantage to 20-13 with 7:33 left in the half.

From there, the Green Wave ended the half with a 15-3 run for a 28-23 halftime advantage. A Mary Kathryn Govero trey was the Lady Bulldogs' only score in the final 7:33 of the half. The Lady Bulldogs had three different first-half stretches of more than thee minutes without a score.

In the early stages of the second half, a Govero jumper actually brought MSU within 31-30 before the Lady Bulldogs' offensive attack went totally frigid. Over the next 6:21, Tulane reeled off a 11-0 run to ease into a commanding lead. The run eventually stretched to 26-5 as the hosts took a 56-35 lead. MSU managed two field goals during that run which lasted more than 14 minutes.

The Lady Bulldogs only hit on 8 of 34 shot attempts in the final half. Tulane stretched the lead to as many as 22 on two different occasions before cruising home with the victory.

For the contest, the Lady Bulldogs hit 18 of 61 shots from the field (30 percent), 5 of 24 shots from 3-point range (21 percent) and 1 of 2 shots from the foul line (50 percent). The Green Wave hit 22 of 62 shots from the field (36 percent), 5 of 15 shots from 3-point range (33 percent) and 13 of 21 shots from the foul line (62 percent).

Tulane held a 48-40 rebounding advantage. The Lady Bulldogs had nine assists and 21 turnovers, while the Green Wave had 16 assists and 16 turnovers.

Tulane received a game-high 18 points from Tiffany Aidoo. The Green Wave also had double-doubles from Brittany Lindsey (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Whitney Bibbins (10 points, 11 rebounds). Roshaunda Barnes was also in double figures with 11 points.

The Lady Bulldogs remain on the road, facing South Alabama at 7 p.m. next Tuesday in the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. MSU returns home for Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 2 p.m. on Nov. 28.

Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State basketball coach Rick Stansbury is one of 64 Division I coaches nationwide participating in the "Shots From the Heart" program, which is designed to help raise awareness for heart disease.

The event will also pay tribute to the late Skip Prosser, the former Wake Forest coach who passed away on July 26, 2007, of a heart attack.

"First of all, I'm very honored to participate in such a worthy event that will bring awareness to heart disease," Stansbury said. "We all know someone affected by this, and I'll do anything I can do to help bring awareness. This is a scary disease, but this event is something that Skip would be proud of."

College basketball coaches will compete against one another in a free throw shooting tournament, culminating with the championship round at the 2010 Final Four in Houston, Texas.

Coaches will not have to actually compete against each other on the same court. Each coach will shoot 25 free throws at his convenience. A member of the athletic department will tally the results and the coach with the most makes advances. To avoid ties, 1-20 shots made are worth one point, shots 21-24 are worth two points and shot 25 is worth three points.

In the first round, Stansbury will be matched up against Belmont's Rick Byrd.

There will also be a tournament for assistant coaches, and Marcus Grant will represent MSU. He is pitted against Belmont assistant Brian Ayers.

Second round matchups will be announced at a later date.

"This is great way honor Skip (Prosser)," said Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg, who is one of the organizers of the event. "We need to do anything we can to create a greater awareness of heart disease. It is important to put this cause in the forefront and help find ways to generate a greater awareness of this crippling and potentially fatal condition."

CollegeInsider.com played a major role in the inception of this program and is working closely with each school on scheduling the free throw rounds.

"The idea was to create awareness for heart disease through competition," said CollegeInsider.com co-founder Angela Lento. "We wanted to create something that coaches could have fun with. The fun but competitive nature of this event is something that I am sure coach Prosser would have enjoyed."

Skip Prosser spent 21 years as collegiate head coach at Loyola (MD), Xavier and Wake Forest. He made 18 postseason appearances and is the only coach in NCAA history to take three separate schools to the NCAA Tournament in his first year coaching the teams. In 2008, CollegeInsider.com created the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, which is given annually to the coach who not only achieves success on the basketball court but also displays moral integrity off the court as well.

Fans can follow the season-long event at www.collegeinsider.com/shots.

Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Hall of Fame fastpitch pitcher Alan Colglazier has joined Mississippi State's softball coaching staff, head coach Jay Miller announced Tuesday. The hiring is pending the approval of the Board of Trustees, Institutions of Higher Learning.

Colglazier comes to Mississippi State after most recently tutoring players through his Planet Fastpitch instruction academy.

"I'm very excited to be here at Mississippi State, and I welcome the challenge. It was a big consideration for me since I was established in Colorado, but coming down and seeing the facilities and meeting the people, I thought it was a great opportunity," Colglazier said.

"It's going to be a great fit here. I have a great relationship with the rest of the staff. The SEC is known for its great athletics and competition, and I am looking forward to coaching in this league," Colglazier said. "I'm really looking forward to starting the season. We have some great girls who have a lot of potential, and we are working hard toward our goal of winning the SEC championship."

A 20-year veteran pitcher in the men's fastpitch ranks, he has utilized his pitching expertise on the college and high school ranks. He coached numerous all-state and all-region performers at Centennial High School after spending the 1996 season as the interim head coach at his alma mater, NCAA Division II Southern Colorado (now Colorado State-Pueblo).

During that one season coaching the Thunderwolves, he guided the team to its first winning season in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. He also coached Timmi-Jo Miller to first-team, All-RMAC honors.

Colglazier began his softball coaching career with a five-year tenure at Pueblo East High School. He then made the switch to the Arizona prep ranks at Kingman High School.

"We are very fortunate to have someone of Alan's qualifications joining our coaching staff. He was a Hall of Fame pitcher in the men's game, and he has an extensive teaching background in high school and college," MSU head coach Jay Miller said. "He is a welcome addition to our staff, and we are looking forward to having Alan here working with our team."

Colglazier made the transition to coaching following a stellar career as a pitcher that saw him labeled as the top player in the world during his prime.

His excellence in the circle on the international stage earned him the prestigious honor of being inducted into the International Softball Congress Hall of Fame in 1994. In addition to the international hall of fame honor, Colglazier is also in the Colorado ASA Hall of Fame and the Pueblo Softball Hall of Fame.

The Pueblo native has played in 18 world tournaments during his career, earning All-World accolades four times. He pitched the United States to the U.S. Olympic Festival silver medal in 1980 and also tossed on Team USA's Pan-Am Games team in 1982.

In addition, Colglazier served as a player and coach on the international stage, leading the Red, White and Blue hurlers to the 1980 World Championship. A six-time ASA All-American, he also was a member of the 1983 Canadian national championship team.